JK 3225 
1824 
.fl34 
Copy 1 



JK 3225 
1824 
.fl34 
Copy 1 



CONSTITUTION 



OF THE 



STAT^ 0¥ 11H01>E-IS1.A^'D 



AND 



PHOVSDSMCZ: PZiANTATXONS, 



AS ADOPTED BY THE 



(g®S3^I^S51»a(DS5 



9 



ASSEMBLED AT NEWPORT, JUNE 21, 1824. 



I' 




PROVIDENCE : 

PRINTED BT JONES & MAXCY, AT THE OFI'ICE OF THE PATHieX, 

1B24. 



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2419 



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(e®sri^aswisa(Dsr( 



WE, the Peopk of the State of Rhode-Island 
and Providence Plantations, do ordain and 
establish this Constitution for the govern- 
ment thereof: 

Article 1. 
Of the Distribution of Powers. 

1. The powers of the government shall be dis- 
tributed into three distinct departments : the Legisla- 
tive, Executive and Judicial. 

2. No person or persons, belonging to one of these 
departments, shall exercise any of the powers prop- 
erly belonging to either of the others, except in cases 
herein expressly directed or permitted. 

Article 3. 

Of the Legislative Department, 
Section 1. 

1. The Legislative power shall be vested in two 
distinct Houses or branches ; the one to be styled the 
Senate, the other the House of Representatives, and 
both together, the General Assembly. The style of 
their laws shall be — Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of lihode- Island and Frovi- 
dence Plantations. 

2. If any Senator or Representative, in the Gen- 
eral Assembly of this State, shall be appointed to any 
office under the government of the United states, and 
shall accept of the same, after his election as such 
Senator or Representative, his seat shall thereby be- 
come vacated ; and any person, who holds an office 
under the government of the United States, may be 
elected a member of the General Asseaibly, and may 
hold his seat therein, if, at the time of taking his seat, 
he shall have resigned said office, and shall declare 
the same, on oath, if required. No member of the 
General Assembly shall, during the time for which 
he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil 
office, under this State, which shall have been crea- 



4i 

ted, or the emoluments of which shall have been in- 
creased, during the time for which he was elected. — - 
No member of the General Assembly shall take any 
fees, be of counsel, or act as an advocate before eith- 
er branch of the Legislature, under penalty of for- 
feiting his seat, upon due proof thereof. 

3. rhere shall be one session of the General As- 
sembly holden annually at Newport. on the first ^'ues- 
day of May ; and one other session, holden alternate- 
ly at Providence and South-Kingstown, on the second 
Monday of January, in each year ; and the adjourn- 
ments from said sessions, respectively, shall be hold- 
en at East-Greenwich and Bristol, alternately. 

4. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all 
cases of civil process, be privileged from arrest, dur- 
ing the session of the General Assembly, and for 
two days before the commencement, and two days af- 
ter the termination of any session thereof; and for 
any speech in debate, in either House, they shall not 
be questioned in any other place. 

5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections 
and qualifications of its own members; and the ma- 
jority shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a 
smaller number may adjourn, from day to day, and 
may compel the attendance of absent members, in such 
manner, and under such penalties as each House may 
prescribe. 

6. Each House may determine the rules of pro- 
ceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, 
and= with the concurrence of two thirds of the mem- 
bers elected, expel a member, but not a second time 
for the same cause. 

7. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceed- 
ings, and publish the same, when required by one 
fifth of its members. l*heyeas and nays of the mem- 
bers of either House shall, at the desire of one fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal, 

8. § very bill which shall have passed both Hous- 
es of the General Assembly, shall be presented to the 
Governor If l;e approve of it, he shall sign and trans- 
mit it to the Secretary ; but if not, he shall return it 
to the House, in which it shall have originated, with 
liis ohjections thereto, which shall be entered on their 
journal at large. The H ►use shall then proceed to 
reconsider the bill ; and if, after such reconsidera- 



& 



don, that House shall a^ain pass it, it shall be sent, 
witli tUe objections, to the other House, which shall 
also reconsider it ; and, if approved by that House, it 
shall become a law But in such cases, the votes of 
both Uouses shall be determined by yeas and nays ; 
and the names of the members, voting for and against 
the bill, shall be entered on the journal of each House 
respectively. If the bill shall not be returned by the 
Governor, within two days. (Sundays excepted,) after 
it shall have been presented to him. the same shall be- 
come a law. in like manner as if he had signed it, un- 
less the General Assembly, by their adjournment, 
prevent its return ; in which case, it shall not be a law. 
9, The civil and military officers, heretofore elec- 
ted in grand committee, shall hereafter be elected an- 
nually by the General Assembly, in joint committee, 
composed of the two Houses of the Legislature, ex- 
cepting as is otherwise provided by this Constitution ; 
and excepting the captains and subalterns of the mil- 
itia, who shall be elected by the written votes of the 
members, composing their respective companies, in 
such manner as the Legislature may prescribe; and 
such officers, so elected, shall be approved of and com- 
missioned by the (governor, who shall determine their 
rank ; and if said companies shall neglect or refuse 
to make such elections, after being duly notified, then 
the Governor shall appoint suitable persons to fill such 
offices. 

Section 2. 



Of the Senate, 

1. The Senate shall consist of ten members, to be 
chosen annually, b} the electors, by general ticket ; 
but no person shall be elected to the place of Senator, 
unless he be possessed of a freehold in this State, 
sufficient to qualify him to be an elector, and shall be a 
freeman and inhabitant of the same. In case an elec- 
tion of a majority of Senators should fail, in any in- 
stance, to be made by the electors, at their annual elec- 
tion, the vacancies shall be filled by the House of Rep- 
resentatives ; and all vacancies, in the Senate, from 
any other cause, shall be filled by the two Houses in 
joint committee. 



3. The Lieutenant-Governor shall, by virtue of 
his office, be President of the Senate, and have, when 
in committee of the whole, a right to debate ; and 
when the Senate is equally divided, to give the cast- 
ing vote. 

3. When the government shall be administered by 
the Lieutenant-Governor, or he shall be unable to at- 
tend as President of the Senate, the Senate shall eleofc 
one of their own members, President pro tempore. 

4. The Secretary of State shall be, by virtue of 
his office, Secretary of the Senate. 

Section 8. 

Of the House of Representatives. 

1. The House of Representatives shall consist of 
members elected by the electors of the several towns, 
in their respective town-meetings, on the third 
Wednesday of April, annually. Each town, having 
three thousand inhabitants, and under five thousand, 
shall be entitled to elect thiee Representatives ; each 
town, having ^vq thousand inhabitants, and under 
eight thousand, shall be entitled to elect four Repre- 
sentatives ; each town, having eight thousand inhabi- 
tants, and under twelve thousand, shall be entitled to 
elect five Representatives ; each town, having twelve 
thousand inhabitants, and under seventeen thousand, 
shall be entitled to elect six Representatives : and 
each town, having seventeen thousand inhabitants, 
shall be entitled to elect seven Representatives ; but 
no town shall be entitled to elect more than seven 
Representatives ; nor shall any town be entitled to 
less than two. The representation in the several 
towns in this State shall be apportioned agreeably to 
the census of the people of the Linited States, taken in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty, in 
conformity to the Constitution thereof; and said ap- 
portionment shall continue to have effect, until a new 
census be taken of the people of the United itates, 
as by their constitution is provided. The representa- 
tion in the several towns in this State shall be appor- 
tioned, agreeably to said new census ; and so on, at 
each subsequent period thereafter, whenever a new 
census of the people of the United States shall be tak- 
en under the constitution thereof. 



g. No person shall be eligible to the place of Kep- 
lesentative, in the General Assembly, unless he be a 
freeman, and an inhabitant of the town for which he 
shall be elected, and possessed of a freehold in the 
same, sufficient to qualify him to be an elector, accord- 
ing to this Constitution. 

3. The House of Representatives shall have au- 
thority to elect their own Speaker, Clerk and other 
officers. 

4. Whenever the seat of a member of the House 
of Kepresentatives shall be vacated by death, resigna- 
tion, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled by a new 
©lection. 



Section 4. 
Of Impeachments, 

1. The House of Representatives shall have the 
sole power of impeachment. 

2. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate ; 
and, when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on 
oath or affirmation. No person shall be convicted, ex- 
cept on concurrence of two thirds of the members elec- 
ted When the Governor is impeached, the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall preside. 

3. The Governor and all other executive and ju- 
dicial officers shall be liable to impeachment; but 
judgments in such cases shall not extend further than 
to removal from office. The party convicted shall, 
nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial 
aad punishment, according to law. 

Article S. 



01^ the Executive Department. 

1. The Supreme Executive power of this State 
shall be vested in a Governor, who shall be chosen by 
the electors, properly qualified, and shall hold his of- 
fice for the term of one year, from the first Tuesday in 
May, next succeeding his election, and until his suc- 
cessor be duly qualified. But if no person shall have 
a majority of votes, the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives, in joint committee, shall choose a Governor, 
by ballot, from the two persons having the highest 



8 

Rumber of votes. No person shall be elie;ible to the 
office of CTOvernor, who does not possess the qualifica- 
tions of an elector, and who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and who is not a native born 
citizen of the Lnited States, and who shall not have 
been for the term of five years, resident within this 
State; or who, at the time of his election, or during 
the term for which he was elected, shall not be a resi- 
dent therein. 

2. There shall also be chosen, in the same man- 
ner as hereinbefore provided for the election of Gov- 
ernor, a Lieutenant Governor, who shall continue in 
office, for the same term of time, and possess the same 
qualifications, as are required in the case of the Gov- 
ernor. 

3. A Secretary of State, General-Treasurer and 
Attorney -Gen era I, shall also be chosen on the third 
Wednesday of April, annually, in the same manner, 
and for the same term of time, as hereinbefore provi- 
ded, as to the election of Governor and Lieutenant- 
Governor. And in case an election of the Secretary 
of State, Attorney- General, or General- Treasurer, 
should fail to be made by the electors, at their annual 
election, or in case of a vacancy in either of said of- 
fices, from any other causes, the vacancy or vacan- 
cies shall be filled by the Legislature, in joint com- 
mittee of both branches thereof. 

4. 'J'he Governor shall have power to grant re- 
prieves and pardons, after conviction, in all cases, ex- 
cept those of impeachment. He shall preside in the 
joint committee of both Houses, when assembled for 
the election of officers, and shall have a casting vote 
therein, if the joint committee he equally divided — • 
He shall, ftom time to time, give to the General As- 
sembly information of the state of the Government, 
and recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he shall deem expedient. 

5. In case of a disagreement between the two 
Houses of the General Assembly, respecting the time 
or place of adjournment, the person administering the 
office of Governor, may adjourn them to nuch time and 
place as he shall think proper; provided that the time 
of adjournment shall not be extended beyond the day 
of the next stated session. 

6. The person administering the office of Govern- 



9 



or, may, on spec^ial omergenCie*. convene the General 
Assembly at any town in this State, at any other time 
than herein before providei]. And in case of dimmer 
from the jjrevalence of contagious diseases, in eiiiter of 
the places, in which the General Assembly may by 
law meet, or to which they m^^y have been jidjoLirned, 
or from other ciicumstances, he may, by pioclamatUMi, 
convene said Assembly at any other place within this 
State 

7. All commissions shall be in the name and by 
the authority of the State of Khode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations ; shall be sealed with the State seal, 
signed by the Governor, and attested by tlie Serretary. 

8. The Governor shall be Commander in Chief of 
the Militia of this Stale. 

9. In case of the death, resignation, refusal, or in- 
ability to serve, or removal from office, of the Gov- 
ernor, or his impeachment, or absence from the State, 
the Lieutenant-Governor shall exercise the powers 
and authority appertaining to the office of Governor un- 
til another be chosen, at the next annual eleclicm for 
Governor, and be duly qualified, or until the Governor, 
impeached or absent, shall be acquitted or return, or 
his inability be removed. 

10 If, during the vacancy of the office of Governor, 
the i/ieutenant- Governor shall die, resign, refuse, or 
be unable to serve, or be removed from office, or if ha 
shall be impeached, or absent from the State, the Pres- 
ident of the Senate, pro tPmpo7*e, shall in like man- 
ner administer the government until he be superseded 
by a Governor or lieutenant- »overnor. 

11 i he compensation of the Governor and Lieu- 
tenant Governor shall be establisiied by law, and shall 
not be varied so as to take eUVct, until after an elec- 
tion, which shall next succeed the passage of the law 
establishing such compensation. 

IS. 'I'he duties of the Secretary, General-Treasur- 
er and Attorney- General, shall be the same under 
this Constitution, as are now established by law, or as 
the Legislature may, from time to time, prescribe. 

Article 4'. 



Of the Judiciary Department. 
1. The Judicial power of this State shall be vest 



40 

ed in one Supreme Judicial Court, a Circuit Court of 
Common Pleas and (General Sessions of the Peace, 
and in such other Courts, inferior to ihe Supreme Ju- 
dicial Court, as the Legislature may, from time to 
time, ordain and establish : and the jurisdiction of the 
Supreme Judicial Court and all other Courts, may, 
from time to time, be regulated by the Legisla- 
ture. 

2. There shall be annually appointed, in each 
town, a siilUcient number of Justices of the Peace, with 
such jurisdiction as the legislature may prescribe. 

3. The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court 
and Circuit Court of Common Pleas and (leneral Ses- 
sions of the Peace shall be appointed in the manner 
provided by this Constitution. 'J hey shall be remov- 
able from office, by impeachment, or on the joint reso- 
lution of both branches of the Lesiislature, two thirds 
of the number elected of each branch concurring there- 
in. But no person, who was a member of the Legis- 
lature at the time of such removal, shall be appointed 
to fill the vacancy occasioned theieby : and in all cas- 
es of removal by joint resolution of both branches of 
the Legislature, the causes of removal, and the ayes 
and nays thereon, shall be stated, and entered upon 
the journal of each House. 

4. The Supreme Judicial Court shall consist of 
one Chief Justice and two Associate Justices, a ma- 
jority of whom shall forrn a quorum. The Chief Jus- 
tice shall be appointed for the term of six years ; the 
second Justice, for the terra of lour years ; and the 
third Justice, for the term of two years ; but ail subse- 
quent a])pointments, at the end of either of these terms, 
shall be for the term of six years. The Justices of 
the Supreme Judicial ( ourt shall receive a compen- 
sritinn which shall not be diminished during their 
term of office. 

5. The Circuit Court of Common Pleas and Gen- 
eral Sessions of the Peace shall consist of five Justic- 
es, one Justice to be taken from each county : and the 
jurisdiction of said Court shall extend to every county 
in this State ; and the terms of said Court shall be 
holden in each county, as shall be prescribed by law. 
The Justices of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas 
and General Sessions of the Peace shall be appointed 
for the term of one year. 



11 



6. No Judge shall charge Juries on matters of fact; 
but may state the testimony, and declare the law. 

7. rhe Courts of Frohate, in this State, shall re- 
main as at present established by law, until the Legis- 
lature shall otherwise prescribe. 

Article 5. 

Of Elections and the Ei^^lit of Suffrage, 

1. Every person, who now is, or hereafter may be, 
admitted a freeman, previous to the adoption of this 
Constitution, shall be an elector, so long as he shall 
be possessed of the qualifications by which he was ad- 
mitted to be a freeman ; and, hereafter, every free 
white male citizen, of the age of twenty-one years, 
who is really and truly possessed, in his own proper 
right, of a real estate, within this 8tate, of the value of 
one hundred and thirty-four dollars, or which shall 
rent for seven dollars per annum. being an estate in fee 
simple, fee tail, or an estate in reversion, which quali 
fies no oth^r person, or at least an estate for the per- 
son's own life, shall be entitled to be admitted a free- 
man in the town in which his estate lies; and being 
so aiimitted, shall be an elector, and no other persons : 
j)rovided, howevei ^ that the yearly value of such life 
estate shall exceed the amount of the rent reserved, 
(if any,) by the sum of seven dollars, per annum : 
and provided, that no person, whose estate is under 
mortgage, and the mortgagee is in possession of such 
estate, either by suit at law, or by consent of the mort- 
gager, shall be admitted to vote in the election of an^^ 
officer in this Htate, or be capable of acting as an elec- 
tor therein ; but the mortgagee having possession of 
the land as aforesaid, shall be admitted to vote in the 
election of officers, if he be in other respects qualified : 
jyrovided, however^ that no mortgager, v/hile in pos- 
session of the mortgaged premises, shall be admitted 
to vote thereon, unless his interest therein shall ex- 
ceed the sum of one hundred and thirty-four dollars, 
over and above all sums secured by mortgage : and 
provided also^ that no person shall be admitted to 
vote in any town in this State, for Representatives to 
the (General Assembly, or for any town officers, or in 
any town alFairs, who has not a sufficient freehold in 
such town. 



1^ 

2. Electors shall, in all cases, except in those of 
treason, felony and breach of the peace, he privileged 
from arre!?t. during their attendance at elections, and 
in going to and returning from the sfime; said privi- 
lege not to extend farther than on said day of election. 

3. The privileges of an elector shall be forfeited 
by a conviction of bribery, forgery, perjury, theft, or 
other infamous crime ; but such elector, so forfeiting 
his privileges, may be restored to the same by the 
Oeneral Assembly. 

4. No person shall be eligible to any office in this 
State, other than offices in the militia, or town-offices, 
unless he possess a freehold sufficient to qualify him 
to be an Elector. 

5. Tiie Town-Meetings in this State, for choos? 
ing the Governor, i ieutenant-Governor, Senators and 
^Representatives to the General Assembly, Secretary 
of State, Attorney-General and General-Treasurer, 
shall be holden on the third Wednesday of April, an- 
nually. 

6. Every person who shall vote for the officers 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph, excepting for 
Representatives to the General Assembly, shall have 
liis name written at length on the back of his vote at 
the time of delivering in the same: and the names of 
all the officers voted for shall be put upon one ticket ; 
and all the votes, so taken, shall be, in open Town- 
Meeting, sealed up by the Town Olerk, and shall, 
together with a list of the persons voting for Governor, 
be delivered by said Town Clerk to a Senator or one 
of the Kepresentatives of such town, whose duty it 
shall be to deliver them to the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives after the said House shall be duly 
organized ; which votes shall be opened, counted and 
declared, as the House of Kepresentatives shall di- 
rect. 

7 The oath of office shall be administered to the 
persons, who shall have been declared to be elected, 
in the manner in the preceding paragraph recited, by 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives and in 
presence of the House. 



Article 6. 

,i Declaration of certain Constitutional Rights and 
Principles, 

1. Every person, within this State, ought to find a 
certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, fop 
all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his 
person, property or character. He ought to obtain 
right and justice freely, and without being obliged to 
purchase it ; completely and without any denial ^ 
promptly and without delay ; conformably to the laws. 

2. The right of the people to be secure in their 
persons, houses, papers and possessions, against unrea- 
sonable searche.« and seizures, shall not be violated : 
and no warrant shall issue, but on complaint in writ- 
ing, upon probable cause, supported by oath or affir- 
mation, and describing, as nearly as may be, the place 
to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 

3. No person shall beholden to answer a capital 
or other infamous crime, unless on presentment or in- 
dictment by a grand jury, except in cases arising in 
the land or naval f rces, or in he mi itia, when in 
actual service, in time of war or publi; danger. No 
person shall br liable to b ' tried, after an acquittal, 
for the same crime i.r oftVnce. 

4. Exces-iv<' biil shall not be required, nor ex- 
cessive lines imposed, noi cruel punishments inflicted ; 
and all punishments ought to ^le proportioned to the 
offence. 

5 All prisoners ought to be bailable by sufficient 
sureties, unless for capital offences, when the proof is 
evident, or I he presumption great. The privilege 
of the writ of Habeas Tor us shill not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebelli > or invasion the pub- 
lic safety shall require it, nor ever, without tiie author- 
ity of t e Legislature, nor for a longer period :han 
sixty da.vs at any one time 

6. In ail criminal prosecu ions, the accused shall 
enjoy the privilege of a sp edy and public trial, by an 
impartial jury; to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be coiifronted with the 
witnesses against him ; to have compuls«^:ry process? 
to obtain them in his favor ; and to have the a-^sist- 
auce of counsel m liis defence. JNor shall he be dp- 



14 

prived of his life, liberty or property unless by the 
judgment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

7. The person of a debtor, where there is not 
strong presumption of fraud, ought not to be confined 
in prison, after he shall have delivered up his prop- 
erty for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

8. Retrospective laws, punishing offences, com- 
mitted before the existence of such laws, are oppres- 
sive and unjust, and ought not to be made. 

9. No man in a court of common law, shall be 
compelled to give evidence against himself. 

10. Everyman being presumed to be innocent, un- 
til pronounced guilty by the law, ^11 acts of severity, 
that are not necessary to secure an accused person, 
ought to be repressed 

11. The citizens have a right in a peaceable man- 
ner to assemble for their common good, and to apply 
to those invested with the powers of government, for 
redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by 
petition, address, or remonstrance. 

12. 1 he liberty of the press, being essential to the 
security of freedom in a State, any citizen may pub- 
lish his sentiments on any subject, being responsible 
for the abuse of that liberty. 

13. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. 

14. Private property shall not be taken for public 
uses, without just compensation. 

15. The military power shall always be held in 
strict subordination to the civil authority. 

16. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered 
in any house, without the consent of the owner ; nor, 
in time of war, but in manner to be prescribed by law. 

17. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind 
free, and all attempts to influence it, by temporal pun- 
ishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend 
to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness ; and 
whereas a principal object of our venerable ancestors, 
in their migration to this country, and their settlement 
of this btate, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth 
a lively experiment, that a flourishing civil Htate may 
stand, and be best maintained with full liberty in re 
iigious concernments : V\ e therefore declare, that no 
man shall be compelled to frequent, or support, any 
religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, not 



15 

enforced, restrained, molested or burtliened, in his 
body or goods, nor disqualified from holding any office, 
nor otherwise sufier on account of his religious belief; 
and that all men shall he free to profess, and by argu- 
ment, to maintain their opinion in matters of religion ; 
and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge 
or affect their civil capacities ; and that all other relig- 
ious rignts and privileges of the people of this State, 
as now enjoyed, shall remain inviolate and inviolable. 
18. The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall 
not be construed to impair nor deny others retained by 
the people. 

Article 7. 

Of Education. 

1. A fund shall be created from all monies receiv- 
ed for taxes on licenses, granted under the authority 
of this State, for the support of Free Schools^ which 
shall be called the School Fund, and shall be invested 
and remain a perpetual fund and shall continue to ac- 
cumulate, until the interest arising therefrom, together 
with the taxes annually paid on licenses, shall be 
sufficient to support Free Schools, at least three 
months in each vear, in every town in this State. 

2. All charitable donations for the support of Free, 
Schools, shall be invested and applied agreeably to 
the will and pleasure of the donors. 

3. The (ieneral Assembly shall make all the nec° 
essary provisions by law for carrying this article into 
effect ; but no law shall ever be passed, authorizing 
said fund to be diverted to any other use than the sup- 
port of Free Schools, in the several towns in this State, 
as provided in the first paragraph of this article. 

Article 8. 

Of Amendments, 

The General Assembly may propose amendments 
to this Constitution, by the votes of two thirds of the 
members of each House. Such propositions shall be 
published in the newspapers, and printed copies there- 
of shall be sent, by the Secretary, wjth the names of 
all the members wiio shall have voted thereon, vs^itU 



the yeas and nays, to all the Town Clerks in the 
State; and said propositions shall be, by said Clerks, 
inserted in the warrants or notices by them to be is- 
sued, for warning the next annual town meetings in 
April ; and the Clerks shall read them to the electors, 
when assembled, with the names of all the Senators 
and Representatives who shall have voted thereon, 
with the yeas and nays, before the election of Sena- 
tors and Representatives shall be had If two thirds 
of the members chosen at said annual meeting pres- 
ent in each House shall approve any proposition thus 
made, the same shall be published in the newspapers, 
and again sent to the electors, in the mode to be pre- 
scribed by the act of approval ; and, if then approved 
by two thirds of the electors of the State, present and 
voting thereon, in Town- Vieeting, to be specially con- 
veneil for that purpose, shall become a part of th» 
Constitution of this State. 

Article 9. 

General Provisions. 

1. This Constitution, if adopted, shall go into 
operation on the first Tuesday of iVIay, in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and twenty five. '1 he 
fifst election of Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Sen- 
ators and Representatives, Secretary, Attorney Gen- 
eral and General Treasurer, under said Constitution, 
shall be had on the third Wednesday of April next 
preceding. All civil, judicial and military officers, 
now appointed, or who shall hereafter be appointed 
by the General Assembly, or other competent authori- 
ty, before the said first 1 uesday of May. shall hold 
their offices, and may exercise their powers, until ten 
days thereafter. All laws now in force, and not re- 
pugnant to this Constitution, shall continue in force 
until they expire by their own limitation, or are le- 
pealed by the General Assembly. All charters, con- 
tracts, judgments, actions and rights of action, shall 
be as valid as though this Constitution had not been 
made. The present government shall exercise all 
the powers, not repugnant to this Constitution with 
which it is now clothed, until the said first Tuesday 
of Mayj one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five. 



y\ 



2. Ail debts contracted, and engagements evitered 
into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be 
as valid against the State as if this Constitution had 
not been formed. 

3. This Constitution shall be the Supreme Law 
of the State; and the Judges of all the Courts, and 
all other officers, whother civil or military, shall be 
bound, by oath or affirmation, to its due observance. 

4. '1 he J-upreme Judicial Court, established by 
this Constitution, shall have the same jurisdiction as 
the Supreme Judicial Court at present established, 
and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may 
be appealed to or pending in the same, and shall be 
liolden at the same times and places, in each county, 
as the present Supreme Judicial ( ourt, until the Leg- 
islature shall otherwise prescribe. 

5. The Circuit Court of Common Pleas and Gen= 
cral Sessions of the Peace shall liave the same juris- 
di/jtion as the present Courts of Common Pleas and 
General Sessions of the Peace, in the severa^l counties, 
and shall have jurisdiction of all causes which may 
be appealed to or pending in the said Courts of Com- 
mon Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace in the 
respective counties ; and shall be holden at the same 
titles and places in the respective counties, as the said 
Courts of Common Pleas, until the Legislature shall 
otherwise |)rescribe ; and all writs and processes, 
which may he made returnable to the said Courts of 
Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace, 
siiall be returned to, and the same proceedings shall 
be had thereon in the said Circuit Court of Common 
Pleas, in each county, as might have been had thereon, 
in the said Courts of Common Pleas and General 
Isessions of the Peace. 



Cone in Convention, at Newport, the third day of 
July, in the year one thousand eight hundred and 
twenty four, and of American Independence the 
forty- eighth. 



ELISH A R., POTTER, 

Preside nimof'ih e Conven lion. 

Christopher Ellery ^^^^hl Sacrkavieh 
Welcome Arnold Bukges^ \ ^^^^^'^^^'^-^^ 



Attest— 



18 
STATJES of RHODE island, §c. 

In Convention^ July B, 1824. 

Resolved^ That Towa-Meetings be holden, in the 
several towns in this State, on the second Monday of 
October next; that at such Town- Vleetings, the Con- 
stitution, framed by this Convention, be submitted to 
the freemen for their ratification, in the manner pre- 
scribed by an act of the General Assembly of this 
sState, entitled ^^an act to authorize th"3 holding a 
Convention for the purpose of framing a Written Con- 
stitution of Grovernment for this State ;'' and that the 
several Town- Clerks in this State shall issue the usu- 
al warrants or notices for holding said Town Meet- 
ings, at least thirty days before the said second Mon- 
day of October next. 

Christopher E, Robbins, 7 o x • 
Welcome A. Burgess, ' ^^''^^^f^tes- 



State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations. 

Secretarifs Office ^ "^ 

July 15, ^. D. IS^l. 5 

I certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of the 
Constitution framed by the Delegates met in Conven- 
tion, at Newport, on the twenty-first day of June, one 
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, under the 
act, entitled " an act to authorize the holding a Con- 
vention for the purpose of forming a Written Constitu- 
tion of Government for this State :'' I alsi certify, 
that the foregoing is a true copy of the resolution a- 
dopted by said Convention, prescribing the time when 
Town-Meetings shall be holden for the purpose of rati 
fying said Constitution. 







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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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